January 7, 2015

Genesis and Catastrophe

The plot summary is how Klara was afraid that her new born child will die. She explained to the doctor that three of her children had already died at young ages. Throughout her conversation with the doctor, he explained that her new child is normal. Then the mother asked if the child was small. The doctor said a little small and asked what is the name of the child.  When the husband came he was annoyed that his new son was smaller than Otto, who was small and weak and died. Discussion of action is how the doctor immediately told the husband that nothing was wrong with the new child and he was just born.  Klara is the main character that was very protective of her children, but is scared that her new child will die because of what happened in the past.  Alois is the husband, who is a drunk and has no affection. He is annoyed that all of his children are small and weak. The doctor is a caring man that is trying to comfort Klara.  The plot twist is that her fourth child that lived is Adolf Hitler.  Three literary elements is foreshadowing, the baby that lived was Adolfus Hitler, which later was the cause of a disaster. The irony is that Adolf was smaller than the other children, but lived to grow up and kill other people. The symbol is that Klara prayed for mercy that Adolf would live and he became a powerful man that was responsible for many deaths. The rating is 4.5/5 because of the symbolic message when the doctor said, “The small ones are often a lot tougher than the big ones.”